Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Tikka T3X Lite?

What's the general consensus on the Tikka T3X Lite rifles? I just picked up one in 7mm Rem Mag, with the 24" barrel and removeable brake. Brake will definitely be helpful for working up a load, but will coming off for any trips to the woods. Rifle feels pretty solid, and balances well with the longer barrel. I'll probably end up mounting a Sightron SII Big Sky 3-12x, and will work up a load with 140-150gr BTSP's.

It's the Glock 19 of bolt-action rifles. No upgrades required to shoot well out of the box.

Also, it's Lite in name only. With a Leupold VX-R 3-9x40, my 308 and 30-06 were ~8 pounds.

Differences between the T3 and T3x are not worth getting excited about. Price is a good tie-breaker.

Balance is good. Stocks are 22-24 ounces, with slightly heavier barrels than you’d expect.


Okie John

Strange, most of mine are right around 7 pounds:


Even the wood stocked models. That Leupold must be a pig. Not sure if the OP's is factory with the 24" tube and brake? A factory 7mm Rem mag with the 24.3" barrel should weigh around 6.5 pounds without scope. Also surprised the op has been here since '06, but is asking about the Tikka T3x???

Have 4 of them and have been using them since 2009 , they are great rifles in my opinion.

My brother picked up a T3X Lite a couple years ago in 30-06. Seems he said it weighs right about 7 lbs without the scope. I had a chance to shoot it a bit and I was pleasantly surprised at how accurate it was right out of the box with factory ammo. 1" groups with Coreloks was a breeze and a couple groups were much smaller than that. Plastic stock seemed a bit flexy, but had a good feel to it and didn't hinder the accuracy IMO...

I have owned 15 of these to date and I always keep one or two around for rainy hunting days. For the money they are the best overall IMO but there are dozens of threads on this site with the same 4 or 5 guys touting them as the best rifle ever made, a simple search will reveal these threads with more reading than you will want but its the same people in every thread saying the same thing so just read one or two and you will get the gest of it..Good luck...Hb

Tikka, huh? I’ve heard of those.




P

I formed my love of rifles a long time ago, so I have certain “tastes” in rifles. For instance, a “real” rifle has controlled round feed, and a 3 position safety. When I see a Tikka T3 I want to throw up a little in my mouth. But the truth of the matter is a T3 might just be one of the finest hunting rifles ever devised, and is probably more reliable in crap weather than my M70’s and Kimber MT’s. I know for sure they’ll shoot better out of the box than either. So, while I have no plans to buy one since my rifle purchasing days have pretty well ended, anyone without my prejudices that asks me what to buy for a hunting rifle here in Montana, I tell them get a Tikka T3 in 270 or 6.5 CM.

I’ve never owned or fired a Tikka, but I’ve seen all the glowing reviews. My only fault with the T3x lite is the detachable magazine. I prefer a blind mag, and those Tikka mags are expensive!

2023 is 20 years that I have been using Tikka T3s. I remember having a whole bunch of guys (who never heard of Tikka) badmouthing it at a police sniper school when I showed up one year with a heavy barrel t3 Varmint in .308. Until they saw the way it shot, over and over. Plus how smooth and totally reliable it was and the mags that always worked. Far better than the R700s. Those same mags are still in service today. That barrel is toast, but it took around 10K to get there. That barrel continued to give excellent performance all the way to the end.









Had Brockman's put on a new factory take-off Tikka CTR barrel in 6.5 cm, so now that same action is back in service. Incredibly smooth gun.

Glocks have magazines with polymer construction as well. Nobody gives a second thought to using one of those for mags 50K or more rounds. Those "plastic" Tikka mags are really quite durable and I have used mine in conditions over 100 degrees to -20 and -30 degrees and had no problem. They simply work.

Heard a lot about how well they shoot out of the box, never owned one yet, I kind of prefer Rem 700 and Win 70 which never gave me any problems and they also shot well for me, I could always work up at least couple of loads that will shoot .5 inch, but to each his own.

Tikka bottom “metal” and mags are fhuqking Dog Schit,except in CTR or an AICS conversion,none of which is “subjective”. Hint………..

I love the pics and story Mackay. My buddy has an old stainless T3 Varmint model chambered in 308w. His dad gave it to him last year. It hadn't been fired at all by his dad, so he wanted to scope it and take it to the range. I told him expect the sob to be a shooter. He's local SWAT, so he shoots very well. The rifles his department gave him are 2 old Rem 700's that look like old M24's with old 10x Leupolds with mil dot reticle and m1 turrets on top. He asked how the Tikka would do compared to those rifles and I told him it wouldn't even be close. Well, that day that we took his dads old rifle out, he shot a nice 3 shot cloverleaf. He then asked If I'd shoot it, "to see what it could really do". Here's the 5 shot group it laid down:


That is the target on the backer board. Usually I'll take it home and write on it, with the date, temp, and load data. But since it was shot with his rifle, we just left it there. His app that measures groups said it was in the .1's I believe.

Now, my buddy got me all interested in the 308w and I had to dust my old stainless T3 lite off and work up a load with it. I was not expecting it to shoot as well as the heavy barreled varmint, but was happy with the results from the lightweight rifle.



The newer T3x are upgraded T3's, and are great rifles. Every one that I've owned has shot exceptionally well. I like Brad's post because I'm a pretty die hard model 70 guy, but I can admit the Tikka's are damn good. I've never had one with extraction issues like I've had with other pushfeed models. The Tikka's are smooth and reliable, and they shoot well. But I thought everyone here knew that.

Love ‘em. I’m on my third, having used one for a custom project.

What type of mounts are you using. My 308 is 7 lbs even with a Burris FF-II 3-9X40. The 24" barreled 6.5CM is 7.5 lbs with a Zeiss Conquest 3-9X40

Only thing I have against the Tikkas are the goofy Metric screws, arrrgh! ha They sure do shoot well though!

That scope was a 30mm Leupold VX-R 3-9x40, which weighed 15.6 ounces. It was in Leupold PRW rings, which weighed 5-6 ounces IIRC. I also had a rail on the rifle but I can't remember whether it was steel or aluminum. Probably steel.

Ounces turned into pounds pretty quickly on that one...


Okie John

Tikkas shoot okay, I guess.





This load:







P

I’m a little ashamed to admit, but I’ve never owned a Tikka. For some reason, most of the LGS’s here don’t carry them. I have been thinking it’s time to try one out. Bass Pro has them on sale right now, and there’s a $75 mail in rebate on top of that. A .270 Superlite looks really appealing.

Fanboy!
😁😁😁😁😁😁

I have owned 6 Tikka T3, T3x and CTR rifles in 223,243, 6.5 CM, 7mm-08 and 308. ALL without exception were extremely accurate (1/2" groups) with handloads, often shooting as good or better groups than my Sako's which cost 2-2.5 times as much.

People often complain about the plastic on Tikka's. There are many aftermarket parts available for Tikka's including bottom metal, metal bolt shrouds, steel barrel lugs, stocks, bolts, scope bases etc. While aftermarket parts may make the rifle more astatically pleasing my experience is adding some or all of the aftermarket parts does nothing to enhance Tikka's accuracy.

Bottom line, I like them and will always have several Tikka's in my gun safe.

Miguel-

Do indeed try that superlite. Don't believe you'll regret for a second. I bought one here on the Fire and it really shoots!!! Good luck!

I have two Tikka's T3 lite's 1 is a204 Ruger and the other is a 6.5CM, both are excellent shooters, would buy another Tikka again

Go forth and kill a boatload of critters with that 7mm rem mag! I have 6 or 7 tikkas now and have been using them consistently for the last 15yrs. You can upgrade parts down the road if you wish, but in stock form those guns are pretty dang good. My oldest is a T3 lite stainless in 270 win that has worn just about every aftermarket stock available, but sits in a T3x takeoff, which I find just as good as 90% of the aftermarket options.

I have 5 Tikka T3x Lite's. I have set up as many or more for friends and family. They are hands down the best shooting (out of the box) rifle on the market today. I also think they are the best bang for your buck. I no longer reload. My Tikkas shoot factory ammo as well as my Rem 700's and Win M -70 do with my best worked up reloads. The 700's and m-70's are great rifles. But the accuracy of the Tikka T3x Lite can not be denied.

I’ve owned three T3X Lites. A 223, a 7mm-08, and the current 6.5 Creedmoor. They all shot extremely well out of the box. I’ll own the 6.5 CM when I die unless somebody steals it. With the 6.5 CM, I had no need or use for the other two, so they got traded for other needs or wants.

I have plenty, more than I use. I love them. They are accurate out of the box and they have great build quality and tight tolerances. I think they would be great for rounds like the 6mm and 284 etc because they can be set up in the long action configuration and run long heavy bullets, or just use the 6.5 creedmoor mag in the short action configuration and get a little more room. I use a 300 win mag for elk hunting, I have a fast twist, 24'" barrel Superlight that I had converted to a 6.5 Weatherby RPM. I have a 1:8 22-250 and .223 that both shoot lights out. I have a .243 I want to rechamber to 6mm, but it shoots so good, its a shame to mess with it. I could go on and on.

I just grabbed a new t3x lite stainless 308, 22.4” barrel, was 6 lb 2.5 oz out of the box.

Swapped out the grip for pistol grip +0.5 oz
Swapped out bottom plastic for High Desert aluminum bottom metal +1.0 oz
Area 419 rail skimmed to 0-moa +3.0 oz
Swapped 3 round mag for 5 round +0.5 oz
Cut barrel to 20” -3.5 oz
1” weaver detach top mount low rings (2.5 oz) or Henneberger 30mm 3.5 rings (3.0 oz)

Those rings on that rail are lowest you can find and will have bottom of scope tube same height as Talley x-lows which give best cheek alignment to factory stock imo but more robust than talley. And actually it’s the 1” that gives best alignment imo as the 30mm tube naturally adds about 2.3mm to get up to center of eyebox. Going this low with a 3-9x40 on the rail meant I had to angle shave the front and rear of rail to clear objectives and eyeboxes, file and sharpie to rescue but I’m happy and it can wear my long eye relief Leupold 1” stuff, a vx5hd 1.5-5, a 3-9x40 accupoint etc. The easy button is Talley x-low if you want to line up like that but expense of robustness. I like idea of the two clamping style rings guys go on about but they are all too tall so you look for stock solutions to get that comb up or live with it.

I’m one of those guys that can’t get low enough, too much old short iron sights and maybe waterfowl when young I dunno? But I don’t like lifting to find the view or try to just come down into it, I want natural alignment when it’s go time for snap shooting if needed.

Hope that helps in your set up ideas. For pics Instagram 65grendelhunters

Super helpful. Thanks.


Okie John

I too have found The least expensive or simplest accuracy mods for a Tikka T3 are, swapping to bottom metal for rigidity, a new lower weight trigger spring,

and swapping to the vertical grip.

After so called breakin Ive found the groups to tighten up after about 100 rounds so when cleaning after that I use a friends borescope to take a peek just to make sure I'm getting all the copper out.

So yes very happy with mine.

This has to be the best, most objective review I've ever heard lol. Awesome.


How do you guys find the 308 Win version? Seems to be a lot lighter than the 6.5 CM to hold. They a bit more of a handful to shoot well? StinkyCoyote's addition of the bottom metal, rail, extended mag etc does add a bit of heft tho

After reading many posts on this forum, I concluded that a T3x Lite 30-06 was worth adding to my battery. Now I have 3 of them. And a .223. And a T1x .22. Oh, well. 🫤

The 308 is just like any other. I don't notice any difference in weight between it, the 300WSM, 22-250, 7MM08 or 6.5 Creedmoor. Weird that it would feel any lighter to you???

Think I am just weird, BSA. Could be it was all in my head.

Nice look with the Bell and Carlson there.

Snazzy.

Putting a limbsaver on my 308 helped with recoil some. But it's not bad.

Sharp looking rifle. Has the limbsaver changed the length of pull or feel of shouldering the rifle?

I shoot mainly M70 or M77 rifles, CRF, 3-position safety. I also have a Tikka T3X in 6.5CM set up for a thermal hunting rig. The removable 5-rd box mags are simple in the dark and easy to carry spares and the continuous receiver top with a Pic rail is great for mounting the heavy thermal optics.

The T3x is probably the most accurate rifle I own and the least finicky with various ammo. I'm wondering if part of what makes Tikka rifles so accurate is the continuous top of the receiver. It seems like this might make an action stiffer than the full cut-out you see on other rifles. Obviously barrels also matter, but I wonder how much of an impact the action design plays. The continuous receiver top and narrower opening stinks for hand loading rounds directly into the action, but with a removable box mag, that's not a concern.

I'm not familiar with all the other actions out there, but are there any others with a continuous receiver top?

Most benchrest, Palma, and F-class actions have solid tops. Hall, Panda, and Barnard come to mind but I’m sure there are others.


Okie John

They're very good but awhile back one froze up solid while attempting to take a bison. It turned into literally an club. I have more reliable rifle makes but Tikka shoots well enough.

Did you degrease the inside of the bolt, by any chance?

The firing pin/spring/etc comes packed with a grease that is prone to freeze up.

Its very hard to find a more reliable rifle, as far as cold places go. Accuracy International Arctic Warfare perhaps. And the Tikka T3x model selected by our Rangers for arctic use with the two stage trigger.

Exactly^^^^ I've shot mine in some damn cold temps, and it always goes bang. Those mounties wouldn't have chosen the Tikka, if it were prone to failure. The Tikka has been one of the most reliable rifles I've owned. I place it right up there with my pre 64's, classic model 70's and sporterized m1917's in the reliability department. Those other rifles shoot damn well too, but they take a lot more work to get there. Generally more finicky about loads too.

I’ve had a few of the 595/695 rifles that proceeded the T3 pass through my hands. They all shot great, but all but a freakishly accurate and unpicky stainless .243 were moved on as I had other rifles I preferred for my needs. Like many here I have a soft spot for Model 70’s so have a few that are the ones that get used the most. I have and have had numerous Remington, Ruger, Sako, Kimber, Weatherby and Howa rifles. Some stay. A few get shot occasionally. Most either sit or go down the road. It’s getting to where they have to fill a niche in some outstanding way or I get bored with them pretty fast.

The Tikka T3/T3X had never been given much thought as I thought they looked and felt “cheap”. I started changing my mind when over the past year I acquired and set up a pair of T1X rifles in 17 HMR. Both were amazingly accurate and not picky on ammo. The ergonomics and simplicity of the modular system began to grow on me.

As luck would have it, I came across a deal on a Stainless Fluted T3X in 30-06 with the VSX camo stock on it. It came with a Zeiss V4 3-12x44 on it and it literally had less than a box shot through it. It came with factory boxes for both and was intended to be flipped. I’m set on guns in the 30-06/308 class so had no real intentions on keeping it. By now I should know better than to shoot a gun purchased with the intent to flip. One quick range session and I was a T3X fan. This rifle and the 180 Norma Bondstrike where apparently made for each other. That kind of accuracy inspires a lot of confidence! The night after that range session I literally mounted 4 different scopes on it to see what combo it would live with. The Zeiss won out but was put into Seekins 30mm rings.

This took place in Early September. At the time I was waffling back and forth on what primary and backup rifles I was taking to Saskatchewan for a November deer hunt. I had it narrowed down to about 4 guns at that point. After handling and shooting the new Tikka some more it got the nod as my go to gun over a few old reliables - including some Model 70’s that have been typical go-to’s. The gun served me well on the opportunity I was presented. I had it out on a deer hunt this past weekend. I was thinking about how smooth the feeding is and recalled that I had 100% degreased the bolt assembly for use in Canada and it was running completely dry. It still
cycles more smoothly than some of my rifles that I’ve run hundreds or thousands of rounds through. The stock fits surprisingly good as well and I several Bansner stocks that I’ve finished myself for a perfect LOP and pad fit.

If you can get past the initial impressions you’ll find that the folks Tikka knew what they were doing when they put these rifles together. This one will get passed to one of my boys - hopefully after I get to tote it around for many future hunts.

You probably already know this but the load you work up with the brake on will likely shoot different with it off. Sometimes the difference is dramatic. More often so on lighter contour barrels.

I've had several Tikkas and most have shot at least fairly well. I've had a few that weren't what I'd consider great in the accuracy department but I could always find a load that put me under 1.5 moa at least with the tikkas I've had and I think that speaks well of them overall.

My old heavy barrel 8 twist 223 is still in the safe because it has shot many groups under 1/2 moa. I just wish it was stainless. But, my 308 fluted super light and my 308 ctr were both about moa at best. My fluted 6.5x55 shot some .75" groups with its best loads but didn't often do any better than than. My stainless 8 twist 22-250 sporter and stainless 30-06 sporter have both shot many 1/2 moa groups and are most always under 1 moa so I've held onto them.

I've probably owned a dozen various t3's and have kept maybe 4 because they were great shooters. Many of the others did moa but they not much better so they're gone. For me to keep a tikka it needs to be really accurate because that's what I expect from them. I don't love them enough to keep one that just shoots good because there's things about them I don't like in general.

It's like savage bolt guns. If a savage is going to stay at my house it needs to be extremely accurate. I just don't like them enough to keep one otherwise.

Things I don't love about tikkas are just personal preference. I like a more open ejection port and longer magazine space to seat out. You can get around that on short rounds in a tikka but the long action ones are not desirable to me as a reloader. I don't like the one action size fits all or the plastic trigger guards and detachable low count mags. Not personally a huge fan of how the recoil lug works either.

Overall I think they're a great rifle for that price range but they need to shoot like people claim they all do keep my interest. To their credit they have sped up some of their twist rates over the last few years which means they are listing. Nice to see their 8 twist 243s now and 10 twists on their 30 cals. I can also say that all my friends that have them in 7 mag or 7-08 have had very good accuracy.

Bb

Excellent post BB! i feel a lot the same about the T3x....A T3x needs to be extremely accurate for it to hold my interest and all of em just aint that accurate. Most in my experience have been MOA shooters but not much better..Hb

I have a couple of superlite tilkas. If you are looking for a larger bore lightweight, the 300wm is the lowest cost ang most accurate light rifle you can buy. Next closest package, you are 1900 with a Kimber ascent.

I have only one Tikka right now. It's chambered in 7-08, this rifle like others on here is very accurate.
The actions on these rifles are as smooth as you can get.
I had my doubts, until I bought one and shot it.

Rifle is a T3X

Take care.

Take a look at Outkast Arms. They took over Melvin Forbes shop when he retired. They are stocking all kinds of makes and models of rifles in Melvin's famous stock, with blind magazine, and full length bedding. Would be a great set up for a Tikka. I may try one sometime. I really like the one on my CLR upgrade Melvin did.